


Best Served Cold

by Ladytalon



Category: Stargate: SG-1
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-09
Updated: 2010-06-09
Packaged: 2017-10-10 00:53:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/93452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladytalon/pseuds/Ladytalon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-<em>Ark of Truth</em>: Baal requests SG-1's assistance in exchange for a ZPM but  Sam discovers that his motives have nothing to do with trade.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Best Served Cold

_______________________________________

  
This was the worst idea in the history of bad ideas, and she wasted no time in telling Cam as much. "Remember what happened last time we worked with him?"

Her friend just grinned at her. "You can always knock him on his ass again. Well, again for the first time."

"Indeed," Teal'c offered, looking more amused than he really should have been.

Shaking her head, Sam reached for her jacket as Daniel wandered in. "What's this I hear about Landry making a deal with Baal? I thought we got rid of all of him."

"Are you kidding, Jackson? He's the intergalactic version of the bad penny," Cam snorted. "Let's go, people."

The first thing they saw when they stepped through the Gate was Baal, lounging against the DHD and looking at them as if he'd been waiting for hours. "SG-1. Nice of you to join me," he snarked, folding his arms across his chest.

"We just wanted to give you time to do your makeup, change your clothes… _great_ outfit, by the way."

The Goa'uld simply looked back at Cam as he ran a hand down his sleeve. "It _is_ quite nice, isn't it? I imagine it took several slaves to create it."

Daniel caught Cam's eye as the other man opened his mouth angrily, and shook his head. "Don't give him the satisfaction. What exactly is it that you want?"

Baal straightened slowly, taking his time with answering. "As you know, I have a ZPM. If you want me to give it to you, you must give me something in return."

"Like…?"

Teal'c drifted closer in a not-so-subtle attempt at making Baal stop playing games and spit it out. "I've learned the location of a device Nirrti was working on before her death. Give me the device, and I will give you your precious ZPM," Baal said, sidling away from Teal'c.

Sam shook her head. "The last time we accepted a ZPM from you, it could have destroyed Earth if we'd taken it to the Ancient weapons platform – you'll have to do a lot better than that. What is this device, and why do you want it?"

"If memory serves, _I_ did not give you a ZPM. It was Camulus."

"It was in fact your idea," Teal'c interrupted calmly. "Camulus would never have thought of such a thing on his own."

A sneer began to spread across Baal's face. "And I suppose you'd consider yourself an adequate judge of-"

Sam sighed loudly. "Oh, gimme a break."

"Certainly. Arm, leg, or skull?" Baal smirked at her in a way that really _did_ make her long to bloody his nose again, and she exchanged meaningful looks with Cam.

"Tell us what you know and give us the ZPM," Cam bargained. "You'd have to be nuts to think that we'd ever trust you again."

Baal's smile widened at the implication that they'd trusted him to begin with. "_You_ need not worry about a thing – Colonel Carter is the only one who possesses the skills I require. The rest of you are superfluous."

"Like _hell_-"

"Careful," Baal interrupted. "I only requested SG-1's presence to expedite the process of the device's recovery. I don't _need_ you. Can you say the same?"

Maybe she'd hit him a few more times than just once. "Let's just get this over with," Sam advised, glaring at him.

  


_ _ _ _ _ _

  
They stood in the shadowed entrance of the cave waiting for her to override the complicated system Nirrti had set in place to control the forcefield. She'd apparently designed the system to prevent male Goa'uld from accessing it – most likely a precaution against Cronus' allies after her assassination attempt – but so far it seemed to be accepting of Sam's protein marker and didn't consider her a threat. Which was a good thing, since Baal had informed them that the field would have expanded and sliced her in half had it been triggered. Typically, he hadn't revealed _that_ interesting little tidbit until after Sam had started trying to disarm it.

When the field finally dissipated, she was wholly unprepared for Baal to seize the back of her vest and shove her through. Sam stumbled, going for her P90 as the smell of ozone signaled her that the forcefield had re-engaged.

Baal's hand clamped down on her arm, squeezing painfully as he levered the gun towards the floor. Sam shoved an elbow back into his stomach while simultaneously bringing her foot down on his instep as hard as she could. He hissed angrily as she hit his ribs again, and shifted his grip to throw an arm around her chest to lock her arms to her sides.

Taking advantage of the movement Sam threw her head back, connecting with his nose with a crunch that told her she'd broken it. Baal swore, his voice dropping into the lower register of the symbiote as he flung her into the wall of the cave. Momentarily disoriented by the force of the impact, Sam pushed to her feet and looked to the forcefield – if her teammates could just get through… but it simply rippled under the impact of the bullets Teal'c and Cam fired at it, showing no sign of weakening.

Sam pushed against the wall intending for the momentum to carry her into Baal and knock him off balance, but he was there to slam her back against the rock. "I _do_ admire your enthusiasm, but it's a bit unnecessary."

"What do you want?" Sam asked angrily, trying to shake his grip on her. Baal kept one hand on the small of her back and slid the other up and around to her chin. When she felt his fingers tightening around her jaw like a vise, she fell silent immediately – all he needed to do was flick his wrist and her neck would snap.

"Yes, that's much better," Baal commented. "Now if you wouldn't mind keeping still – oh, I just remembered… if you move, I'll break your neck."

Sam stared at the forcefield as he slid his hands into her pocket and beneath the edge of her clothing, searching for weapons. She could see Cam's face, twisted with fury, as her friend sought a way past the barrier. Daniel looked as worried as she felt, and even Teal'c's expression of stoic calm was slipping. "What do you want?" she repeated, careful not to move her jaw too much.

His sudden laugh startled her, and Baal tightened his grip just enough to make her gasp. "That." He released her jaw to knot his fingers in her hair, and Sam's knees buckled as she felt something pierce her side. "And this." The pain centering in her kidneys increased as it slid in further, and she was fighting back a scream when he began to draw it out again.

She was finally allowed to collapse on the floor and, fighting back nausea, she watched through her hair as his boots moved to the far side of the chamber. "What did you do to me?"

Baal made no reply, and Sam raised her head further to see him place something that looked very much like a needle onto a small platform before it disappeared in an Asgard beam. Her strength returned slowly as he moved about the room placing locator beacons on several of the instruments and consoles before they were beamed away, as well.

When only a handful of machines were left he walked back over to Sam, hitching up his coat and crouching down so that he was at eye level with her. "I've tolerated a great deal from the Tau'ri," he said conversationally, dabbing at the blood still flowing from his nose. "Now that you have so kindly rid me of any lingering competitors, that will change." His eyes flashed as he leaned closer until their faces were mere inches apart. "And there is nothing you can do to stop me."

"Tell me, Colonel – how does it feel to be helpless?" Sam closed her eyes at the casual menace in his voice as Baal stroked his finger across her cheek and down her neck. "I could do anything I pleased to you right now," he mused.

She shivered convulsively as his fingers slid lower, under the edge of her shirt, and the instinctive fear of being helpless brought back the original fury she'd felt, as well as anger for being frightened of him in the first place. Sam had dealt with Baal several times over the past few years – she _knew_ how to handle his threats. "I thought you were the kind to make others do your dirty work."

"Ah, it stamps its foot in indignation." Baal slid his hand into his coat, withdrawing a small device from an inside pocket. "Do you know what this is, Colonel?" Sam opened her mouth to speak, but he interrupted with, "Of course you don't know, any more than you know what was in that needle… Nirrti seemed very fond of her experiments, didn't she? I seem to recall hearing something about a planet called Hanka, and a small female child being the only survivor."

Sam's eyes narrowed at the oblique mention of Cassandra. "What about it?"

"I also seem to recall hearing that a naquidah bomb had been implanted within the child, making Gate travel a bit inconvenient." A smile played about Baal's lips as he jiggled the device meaningfully. "This will allow me to alter your memory, so that you will have no recollection of what I am about to tell you. At this moment, you have several nanites in your bloodstream – they've been carefully programmed to remain inert until you've traveled back to Earth. Passing through the Gate will cause them to reproduce, and each time you are exposed to naquidah they will grow exponentially until…" Baal flicked his fingers outward to mime an explosion. "And the beauty of it all is, you won't realize what's happening to you until it's too late - you won't remember."

Sam struggled to control her breathing, trying not to give him the satisfaction of seeing her fear. He could just be lying, like he'd done countless times before, but the look on his face indicated otherwise. _This_ was the Baal who'd wiped out two solar systems full of people rather than losing them to Sokar. "I'll find out," she promised him. "We'll figure it out somehow."

"Will you really?" Baal tilted his head. "I highly doubt it." He lifted the device, and…

…she was stumbling into the cave, reaching for her P90. Baal swore angrily as Sam turned to aim the gun at him and found him cupping his palm around his nose and upper lip. "What happened to your nose?"

The Goa'uld's eyes flashed at her as he replaced his hand with an intricately embroidered handkerchief. "I was merely attempting to keep us from being ripped apart by a sudden shift in the forcefield when your wildly flailing elbow caught me in the face," he seethed.

"Well, serves you right." She couldn't wait to tell Cam that she'd tagged Baal's nose again, and twisted around to see her male teammates firing into the forcefield barrier. "Can't we drop that since we actually made it inside?" Sam rubbed at her side, wondering why it felt so sore. And why was she so tired? She'd felt just fine a few seconds ago.

Baal shrugged his shoulders, the movement made awkward since he was still cradling his broken nose. "Give me your gun."

"I don't think so."

He gestured to her P90 as he tucked the handkerchief out of sight. "One of the smaller ones, then. It would be foolish for us both to assume that I could possibly overpower you with anything smaller than that."

They argued a few minutes more then Sam handed the smaller weapon to Baal, careful to keep her P90 trained on him. Lifting the gun, Baal aimed at the panel beside the forcefield and fired twice. The control panel exploded in a shower of sparks, and the barrier flared white before dissolving.

Teal'c charged into the cave to shove the barrel of his weapon into Baal's side. "Sam! What the hell is going on?" Cam yelled, coming through with Daniel hot on his heels. "We've been trying to get through that damned thing for over an hour!"

Sam frowned, glancing over to see Baal surrendering the handgun to Teal'c with a resentful expression on his face. "We just got in here."

"No…you didn't," Daniel said slowly, turning to Baal. "What's going on?"

The other man jerked his arm from Teal'c's grasp. "No doubt Nirrti fitted the barrier with some sort of time dilation adjustment, to keep out unwanted visitors." Baal brushed his sleeve off, glaring up at the big Jaffa. "I can't quite imagine what she wanted to keep so secret, since there is plainly nothing here."

There was something not quite right, Sam thought, looking at Baal. He returned to brushing at his coat, glancing up at her to catch her watching. "So what aren't you telling us?" she asked.

A look vaguely resembling satisfaction flitted across his face, quickly replaced by the arrogance she was so used to seeing. "I have no idea what you are talking about… unless you're referring to the ZPM that you most certainly will _not_ be getting."

The statement immediately kicked Cam into an uproar. "Now, wait just a minute…"

"The arrangement was only valid as long as there was something of value at this location," Baal insisted, finally abandoning his unnecessary grooming to cross his arms and stare at each of them. "There is plainly nothing here."

Daniel moved over to the destroyed panel, shining his flashlight into it before looking over his shoulder at them. "Maybe we should just go," he suggested.

"I say we bring Mr. Fashion Plate back with us so he can tell us where that ZPM is," Cam suggested.

Baal brought a hand up to smooth the fabric of his coat, and Sam's eyes narrowed as his fingers slipped inside to pull a small transmitter out. "I don't think so. It's been a…pleasure…working with you again," he smirked, meeting her gaze. "I trust you'll give my regards to everyone at Stargate Command." Teal'c was already moving to intercept him when Baal activated the device and was beamed away.

"Damn it."

Daniel's brow furrowed as he looked over at Sam. "What did he mean by trusting you'd give the SGC his regards?"

She shook her head. "You've got me. Maybe he just misses the times when he was working for Anubis and showed up whenever he wanted."

"Maybe we should just head back, get a team to return here and sweep the place for any hidden passages and whatnot," Cam said, setting his hands on his hips and looking around. "I'm sure Doctor Lee would love to get his hands on a forcefield that takes you an hour to get through."

"I have never before heard of such a device," Teal'c remarked. Sam shrugged, then clapped a hand to her side as the movement made her side twinge painfully. "Are you injured, Colonel Carter?"

"No, I probably just pulled a muscle breaking Baal's nose." She shared a grin with Cam and Teal'c inclined his head towards her in humorous acknowledgment.

"I knew you had it in you," Cam praised her. "All the same, you should have Doctor Lam check you out soon as we get back… she should be done with Vala by now; right, Jackson?"

Daniel lifted his head from where he'd been studying a section of the wall. "Hmm?"

"Uh huh. Let's go home, kids."

  


_ _ _ _ _ _ _

Tapping his fingertips together, Baal watched the screen as the signature of the beacon he'd implanted within her disappeared from one spot and reappeared in another, signaling that she'd returned to Earth. It was only a matter of time until she'd start to remember what he'd done and scramble to save herself. She might even succeed, but he doubted that she would ever realize that the needle had served a dual purpose.

A hint of movement seen in the corner of his eye made him raise his head, and Baal smiled as his newest creation stepped forward hesitantly. "You may come closer," he said, beckoning with a lazy twitch of his fingers.

Samantha Carter moved forward, sinking to her knees at the foot of his throne and gazing up at him. "Yes, my Lord."

Oh, this was _much_ better than simply cloning himself.

_fin_

_______________________________________


End file.
